SPARTACUS is a great show, and I am proud to say I own all four epic seasons on DVD. Yet the final season never quite caught fire the way I would have hoped.
There are two reasons for this. The obvious one is that everyone knows that the story will not end well for our heroes. But the other problem is that we already know Spartacus, Crixus, Gannicus and their friends. There's not that much more to tell us.
So the show writers have to introduce a flock of new characters, and they're all Romans, and frankly they steal the show. Todd Lasance as the young Julius Caesar, and Anna Hutchison as the Roman lady Laeta, really steal every scene they're in.
This episode is a case in point. While Caesar looks incredibly cool in every scene, punching his way into the slave city, almost winning a fake sword fight with Gannicus, easily tricking dim-witted Nemetes into letting him in on things, the old reliable gladiators just look dumb and silly. Spartacus does his usual boy-scout thing ("don't kill the Romans! They're just confused!") Crixus lets Naevia walk all over him, again, and Gannicus just wants to get wasted. Caesar is so fearless and resourceful you actually start wanting him to win, which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole show.
Meanwhile, Anna Hutchison as Laeta is so mind-meltingly beautiful and desirable that you can't believe Spartacus doesn't marry her at once. Though she looks quite vulnerable, with her impossibly luscious figure, round, sensual features and masses of auburn hair, she's actually quite strong-willed, willing to risk death, rape, or torture at any time just to protect the helpless Romans now in Spartacus' hands. It doesn't help matters that the other women in this episode (especially Naevia) are getting to be more and more shrill, annoying and bloodthirsty . . . like men, only meaner. Laeta ends up looking a lot more noble and a lot more lovable than the "noble" slaves she's trying to escape from.
None of this is to say that this is a bad season, or that "Decimation" is a bad episode. Just that the Romans really steal the show!
There are two reasons for this. The obvious one is that everyone knows that the story will not end well for our heroes. But the other problem is that we already know Spartacus, Crixus, Gannicus and their friends. There's not that much more to tell us.
So the show writers have to introduce a flock of new characters, and they're all Romans, and frankly they steal the show. Todd Lasance as the young Julius Caesar, and Anna Hutchison as the Roman lady Laeta, really steal every scene they're in.
This episode is a case in point. While Caesar looks incredibly cool in every scene, punching his way into the slave city, almost winning a fake sword fight with Gannicus, easily tricking dim-witted Nemetes into letting him in on things, the old reliable gladiators just look dumb and silly. Spartacus does his usual boy-scout thing ("don't kill the Romans! They're just confused!") Crixus lets Naevia walk all over him, again, and Gannicus just wants to get wasted. Caesar is so fearless and resourceful you actually start wanting him to win, which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole show.
Meanwhile, Anna Hutchison as Laeta is so mind-meltingly beautiful and desirable that you can't believe Spartacus doesn't marry her at once. Though she looks quite vulnerable, with her impossibly luscious figure, round, sensual features and masses of auburn hair, she's actually quite strong-willed, willing to risk death, rape, or torture at any time just to protect the helpless Romans now in Spartacus' hands. It doesn't help matters that the other women in this episode (especially Naevia) are getting to be more and more shrill, annoying and bloodthirsty . . . like men, only meaner. Laeta ends up looking a lot more noble and a lot more lovable than the "noble" slaves she's trying to escape from.
None of this is to say that this is a bad season, or that "Decimation" is a bad episode. Just that the Romans really steal the show!
